Westminster Men Defeat Elmhurst

ELMHURST, IL -- The Blue Jays of Westminster College took an early lead Wednesday night against Elmhurst College, but Elmhurst chipped away at the deficit to bring the game within three points with 21 seconds left in the game. Elmhurst missed a shot from downtown to tie the game with four seconds left to play. Westminster took the victory against Elmhurst, 72-68, and moved their impressive record to 6-1.

The lead switched between the teams for the first 11 minutes of play, until a layup by Taylor Allen started a 12-0 run to give the Blue Jays a 35-21 lead. Allen scored 8 of the 12 points in that run. Allen went 5-5 on his shots in the first half. Skylar Tolson, leading scorer for the Blue Jays, hit 5 of his 6 threes in the first half, tallying 16 points in the first half alone. The Blue Jays went into halftime up 44-26.

The lead didn't stop after halftime, and a pair of free throws by Tolson brought the Blue Jays up by 24 points, their largest lead of the game. Elmhurst shut down the Blue Jay shooters, only allowing Tolson three looks from the outside and only gave Verdis Lee and Allen one jumper each.

Elmhurst chipped away the lead the Blue Jays put up, and a foul by Westminster with 1:54 left of the clock started Elmhurst's 7-1 run to bring the game within three points with 21 seconds left. A pair of missed free throws by the Blue Jays gave Elmhurst the chance to tie the game. Elmhurst's outside shooter missed the three pointer with 0:04 remaining, and Mookie Valandra grabbed the rebound. Valandra made his free throw to clinch the 72-68 victory over Elmhurst.

The Blue Jays shot 47.1% from the field and 50% from the three point line. Tolson led the game with 24 points, going 7-9 from the outside. Lee chipped in 18 points, and led the team with 5 of the 15 team's assists and 6 rebounds. Allen went 6-6 on his shots and grabbed 5 rebounds.

The Blue Jays continue their Chicago trip and head to Wheaton, Illinois to take on Wheaton College Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.